I’m taking my lunch break… a lunch break that I GET TO decide when I take. Because guess what: I’m self-employed. And I love it. Even though sometimes it requires a little more organization, self-discipline and focus than my ADD-afflicted self usually possesses. Now, I’ve never really been the type to be good at this stuff. I tried the Franklin Covey uber-organized thing and it was ridiculous. Didn’t fit my personality at all. So screw Franklin Covey. I need a more artistic approach.I’ve developed a list of little tricks that helps me get the most done in a day. I don’t always stick by it, but when I do, I’m very productive. So I thought I’d share (while I’m still on my lunch clock, of course).

1) GET UP EARLY! And don’t stay up all night. When I get up by 6am and go to bed by 1am (I don’t need much sleep), I am much more productive. After 1am, I don’t work as efficiently, I get distracted, I waste time browsing and trolling for scraps of human connection because the solitude of the hour is so oppressive. So I try to pack it in early when I can. Also, starting the day early is important because it’s true: the early AM hours are the most revved-up productive. After 10am the body completely changes rhythm and it’s much easier to just sit around sipping coffee and leisurely checking your email. Besides, I pay for daycare… so I don’t like wasting money on time I’m not using.

2) This is so obvious, but a TO-DO list and portable PLANNER are indispensable. What works best is keeping the tasks really simple and short, so I feel accomplished when I get them done. If I put “clean your office” I will just feel discouraged because it seems too big a job. If I say “get boxes broken down and demo crap shelved from last shipment” I know I can handle it, and it will lead to other organization stuff that I can put on the list post facto to make my day look busier.

3) Get PHONE CALLS DONE FIRST. Partly because I hate using the phone. I am very phone-shy, so I will procrastinate all day if I don’t do that first. Parly just because people are less busy in the AM, so your calls will be more efficient, with fewer hold times and fruitless attempts to reach people at lunch or in meetings.

4) PLAN YOUR SCHEDULE two weeks in advance. If you book an entire month in advance, you’re asking for cancellations and trouble to happen. Shorter, you’re going to look like a slacker and chances are, you will become one because you won’t have the momentum to plan events or gigs one at a time on such short notice. I do this a lot, and I’m realizing how dumb it is, how it totally wastes so many opportunities for making money. I don’t like planning ahead. But it helps.

5) If you are getting DISTRACTED BY EMAIL, BLOGS, MYSPACE etc as I tend to do when I’m in a mental block, get your ass to some reasonably quiet place with good tea or coffee, and NO INTERNET CONNECTION. You do NOT need to check your email every half hour… a few times a day is sufficient unless you’re doing a project that requires constant updates. When all else fails, I sometimes go to the library, although it’s so quiet there that I want to fall asleep if I am sleep-deprived. And they do have internet connection there.

6) DO NOT always work at HOME. There is a reason why you see places like Starbucks and Panera, as well as many local indie cafes if you have them, loaded with parked-all-day laptop wielders. Even if you have a home office, working alone all day is a drag. Plus, if you’re like me, it’s very hard to focus when you are looking around and seeing all the domestic fires that need putting out. I would rather separate home and work. Plus, it’s fun to be around other people while I work. Panera’s music and coffee both suck, but they have tasty sandwiches and salads, and free wifi connection. Starbucks and Borders, you have to pay for “Hotspots” to get it… and it’s 20-40$ a month! Screw that. I used to do it, but sucker I am no more. I just discovered Caribou Coffee, which actually has way better ambiance than any of these places… it’s sort of this faux-Yukon, Northern-Xposure type vibe which is a bit cheesy, but the fact that they only offer fair-traded, sustainably harvested coffee makes up for it. And the one near me has an illicit wifi connection. Of course, I always prefer the indie cafes, but there are none around here with free wifi connection (or at all, for that matter).

Oh and BTW, if you stay in one of these places for longer than two hours, leave a small tip. Or buy something else. I try to always do that… it just seems courteous. I don’t want bad karma with my “office leasing agents…” LOL.

7) DO NOT work in your pajamas. I never had to learn this one. Who wants to work in their pajamas, without even taking a shower? That’s just nasty. When I approach my work, even if it’s writing an article at my own computer, I approach it the same way I would approach it in an office: in clean clothes, with music playing that fits my mood, with my hair done and an appropriate shade of lip gloss selected. OK, so I’m barefoot. I don’t wear shoes in my house. But seriously… I have this superstition that people can really tell a, if you are talking on your cell phone on the toilet (ugh, I know people who actually do this), b, if your car or office are a mess just from talking to you, and c, if you are working with your pajamas on. They can tell. Really.

That said, my car and office are both messes right now. I have to fix this. My car is a never-ending battle for clean, but half the week I practically live in it, so it’s hard to keep neat. I eat in it, commute in it, converse in it… it’s awful, but I don’t have much choice some days—especially when I get stuck in horrible DC traffic for hours. Today Jeni drew all over the plush seat of my Buick with sparkly markers. I don’t know what to do with her. We’re going to go to the car wash tonight and shampoo it together so she can see the work involved to clean that up. My office, I keep a mess so that my ex stays out of it. It’s like my castle moat… impassable and foreboding. Yes, even somewhat to me, but that’s OK.

9) Another thing I have to get better about. Bring your business cards and/or other promotional materials everywhere you go. I am so bad about promoting myself. Send gifts and thank you notes to clients. Again, something I must start doing. I am so bad on all the 9-related points, but I will get better.

10) If you work on the road a lot, mapquest everything to minimize travel time. Or better yet, invest in a GPS. I am about to inherit one and I can’t wait!

11) GET UP OFF YOUR ASS every hour to do something else. Make some tea, use the john, eat something, stretch, whatever. This helps me stay more productive and keeps me from going down the evil spiral of computer myopia… where you get so focused on a task that you get distracted by it and don’t complete it in a timely way. Or where you spend 20 minutes painstakingly writing an email that could take 5 minutes. The breaks in concentration actually help me focus better, maybe because my brain drips with ADD.

12) For daunting tasks, set a time limit. Today I told myself I would spend no more than an hour scanning photos and researching stock images for a publication. I went a little over, but not by as much as I would have otherwise.

Well, I think this is all I have time for before I have to get back to work. Anyone else who is self-employed here, have any suggestions?

JungleRay

This article was written my friend JungleRay. She is a published writer and a work at home mother.

You can read more from Jungleray at her blog, on blogster.com called I am Just here for the Fruit.

Click here to read more from her!

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